Numbers 4:6 6 Then they are to cover the curtain with a durable leather, spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles in place.
Today’s businesses know about inventory control. Everything gets marked with a barcode that gets scanned and tracked throughout its lifetime. That is how they can know if they have an item and if it can be shipped. It allows us to track our package until it reaches our door.
I remember my parents purchased a cluster of gift shops. There was one dreaded time of the year: inventory. We had to hand count every item in these gifts shops. These gift shops were filled with small touristy items. They all had to be picked up and counted. It took days.
Imagine spending hours on end in front of bins filled with tiny kids trinkets, bin by bin, trinket by trinket. Hours upon hours for days. And as a member of the family, we were enlisted to help with the big count.
Our text tells us about the inventory control measures set up by Moses to help bring order to the transportation of the Tabernacle and all its individual pieces. The Levites have been split into individual clans and each clan assigned specific items to carry.
Aaron’s family, he and his two sons, are allowed to touch the sacred furniture in the Tabernacle. They are responsible for covering the times and preparing them to be transported by the Levites. And every Levite is assigned a specific job to do. No one is allowed to do their own thing. No Levite is allowed to touch the sacred furniture.
To help with this process of keeping the holy things holy and preserving life, the sacred furniture is covered with several layers of protection. An inner cloth, a curtain, to protect the furniture from scratches, a waterproof cover to protect against the weather and then a blue cloth to signify “those things that need special caution, special care.”
Not a bad system. Everyone knows what they are to do. Safety protocols are in place. The order of movement has been established. Now they just have to do what they have been told. And they always seem to be able to do that, don’t they!
I am wondering if they practiced their movement with a life-sized mockup of the Tabernacle? That is what I would do, if I wanted to make sure everyone did the right thing. The objects could just be made of plywood and not be fancy, but about the right size and shape.
But they couldn’t do this while they were traveling in the dessert. And besides, with their history of disobedience, I don’t know if I would trust them to not start goofing around with the mockup and practice worship and sacrifices. They have a tendency to go their own way.
As the Tabernacle was disassembled, the LORD provided protections against coming in contact with His Holy things. The holy furniture was covered in such a way that touching it couldn’t be done by accident. Holy things must remain holy. They get marked with blue cloth.
So as you saw the moving vehicles, the line of Levites carrying the objects, there was a clear indication of what was most holy. They were all covered in blue cloth. Anyone watching the movement would be able to see these sacred packages being moved and know that they were special, to be handled with special care.
As the abortion debate rages, could we wrap babies in blue to signify their special status? Could we see each other wrapped in blue, individuals made in His image and likeness? We have been invited into the presence of the LORD. And we enter without fear of punishment or death. That is grace.
The Arnold Journey 